2017's theme is all about collecting and using OSH data.

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) - often called “Health and Safety” - is a recent buzzword, but, essentially, it’s a multidisciplinary field designed to keep you and your employees safe and healthy at work. It’s mandatory in the UK, but that’s not the case around the world.

Each company must decide which measures provide a safe and healthy working environment for employees. From safety equipment to uniforms to specialized footwear, businesses can keep everyone safe in the workplace through careful planning.

Furthermore, as if that wasn’t enough to make businesses take notice, an average of 2 MILLION people lose their lives each year as a result of work related accidents and disease. That’s two thirds of the entire population of Wales.

Accidents, disease, and stress can be costly for companies, but companies can do something to reduce and eliminate these factors. However, not all countries enjoy the same rights as those in Europe and North America.

Last year, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) focused on work-related stress, but this year, the organization wants to make companies aware of the need for countries "to improve their capacity to collect and utilize reliable occupational safety and health (OSH) data."

In other words, without reliable data collection on workplace accidents, for example, employees in these companies go without basic rights, which can potentially expose them to life threatening conditions and/or illnesses.

Urging the importance of data collection and implementation to companies will help to provide safer and healthier work environments for people in the developing world. The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is targeting specific countries to collect and use occupational safety and health data to ensure prosperity and reduce poverty in these countries.

Collecting this data can identify new safety concerns and unfolding risks. Overall, it can help to reduce work-related fatalities in developing countries (the number of which are unknown), and create healthier, disease-free populations as well.

How can I keep my employees safe?

The U.K. has come a long way from the Victorian and post-Industrial Revolution, which necessitated legislation to ensure safe conditions at work, but companies can still gather their own OSH data to determine ways to improve.

The ILO created a report of Good Practices for the Development and Implementation of National Notification and Recording Systems. It outlines policies, notes the minimum information required for recording and noting incidents (collect data on which employer, the nature of injury of injured person(s), and the circumstances of the accident or exposure to health hazard), and asks that each organization publish annual statistics of their findings.

If you want a safe workplace for your employees, it’s vital to collect, record, and report data to implement ways of ensuring your worker’s safety. What are the most common types of accidents you may wonder?

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 40% of non-fatal workplace accidents were a result of slips and trips (and 2% of those injuries were fatal).

Slips are most prevalent in the food and drink industry, but they happen anywhere that people are working in busy environments on hard floors. This means preventing slips in YOUR workplace is paramount.

Did you know, over 1,300 injuries happen each year in the UK which leave employees in your sector unable to work for three days or more? And 80% of these are caused by slips.

This data matters because employee injury, absence, and sickness means loss of earnings for your company and/or potentially having to pay out in compensation/legal fees.

No matter which of these industries you are in, consider purchasing non-slip safety shoes for your workforce to reduce the number of health and safety accidents - possibly even eliminate them. This will not only reduce time lost due injury but also, more importantly, keep your team safe and healthy.